Papeete, Tahiti
09 June 2012 | Birthday outfit
Mike
We've spent the past week at the town quay in the centre of Papeete. Initially we planned just to spend one or two nights then move to the large marina Taina near the airport but when we arrived it felt like being back in Australia with nine Aussie boats taking over the small pontoon. Needless to say it was fun hanging out together. Papeete is not a lovely town but after all the sailing over the past months it's really nice to be moored and not moving for a while. We've even started running in the mornings and gotten our bikes out again.
The week was mostly spent done jobs on the boat. We found the only rigger and sail-maker in town (who just happened to be the same person) to fix our D1's and sail. Oh to have a business with no competition. We explain what we need, he promptly picks an exorbitant price from his head, full payment upfront, timeframe when he gets around to it and don't even dare ask for a discount. After suffering all that humiliation you leave his place grateful that he can even do the work. Our new D1's are now installed and our sail will be ready next week so all is well in the end.
What we like about Papeete is that every evening food vans or 'Roulottes' set up in Vaiete Square and serve a big selection of good cheap dishes like pizzas, Chinese, steaks and crepes - yummy. We also like the huge Carrefour supermarket where we can stock up on provisions again. Other groups have hired cars and toured the island, which they thought was nice. We haven't had the lust to do so yet.
Later today we're leaving for the short two-hour sail to the island of Moorea. It's supposed to be beautiful and we can swim again. Our plan is to move between Tahiti and Moorea for the next two weeks.